


Huzzah

by Dancer84



Category: Stargate SG-1
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-24
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-13 04:20:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14741886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dancer84/pseuds/Dancer84
Summary: Taking a day off seemed like a good idea at the time. Jack O'Neill finds more than he bargained for when Daniel Jackson's eccentric uncle comes to town with a tale that hints the aging Renn Faire performer is more than he seems.





	1. Chapter 1

Jack O’Neill had seen many strange things at Cheyenne Mountain. All of them would make great dinner-party stories. All were, alas, classified. Jack wasn’t the sort of host dinner parties.

At least, he hadn’t been before someone insisted on putting a star on his uniform.

The life of a General, even a one-star General, was far less interesting than the life of a Colonel had been. All in all, though Jack’s knees ached less, his back wasn’t so stiff. Something told him that even without the promotion, he wouldn’t have been on SG-1, or any other field team, for too much longer.

Strange sights were also supposed to stay confined within the base. Everyone knew this. The guards. The staff. Walter. 

Which was why Jack stopped short when, on this bright Friday morning, he saw a ‘strange’ sight stride across the parking lot, wave to the gate guard, and waltz off of ‘secured’ property. Jack shut the door of his car and marched over, not sure if he should be pleased to have some fun, or irritated at the breaking of the rules. Or irritated that now he had to enforce the rules.

“Oh, Daniel!”

Daniel turned, the bells on his hat jingling as he did. The archaeologist was not wearing desert robes. He was not wearing anything that resembled an ancient earth culture in any way. Turned out in red tights, a pair of puffy shorts, and a gold tunic with scalloped sleeves, Dr. Daniel Jackson looked like he had stepped out of one of the feudal-fantasy movies he so despised. 

“Hi, Jack.” Daniel sounded less than enthusiastic. “I’m taking a personal day, I won’t be in the office.”

“You’re going off base in that?” Jack asked. His eyes turned to Teal’c, who wore his Jaffa robes and carried his staff. As if ready to walk through the wormhole and not out the front door. “Come on, Teal’c, what did you let him talk you into? And why? And how is this a day off?”

“We are going to a festival to celebrate the history of your people, where everyone will dress in the garb traditional to their ancestors,” Teal’s said. “I reviewed pictures on the internet, and have determined that my native clothing will be suitable to the occasion. No one will notice that it is out of place.”

Daniel rolled his eyes. “Well, they won’t. Because it’s not really a celebration of history so much as a distortion of everything about history--”

“Wait a minute!” Jack held up his hand to cut off Daniel before he got a lecture. He let both Teal’c and Daniel feel the full brunt of his glare. “You’re going to a Renn Faire without me?”

Daniel blinked. “You want to go to a Renn Faire?”

“Um—yes. Have you seen the food? They have giant turkey legs. You bring your own cup and they just give you beer. You get to throw nerf weapons at a guy with his head stuck in a block of wood. What’s not to love?” Jack pulled out his cell phone. Walter had insisted that he carry it now that he was a general. “Walter! I’m taking a personal day. No crises allowed. Got it?” Jack flicked the phone closed and slapped Teal’c and Daniel on the back. “Let’s go!”

“You must don the traditional garb of your people,” Teal’c said. 

Jack looked down at his jeans and t-shirt. His uniform was still safely tucked away inside the locker room at base. Best not to look too official unless absolutely necessary, so he never changed until he got to the office. “That’s what I’m wearing!” He turned to Daniel. “Teal’c I get, but I thought you hated this kind of thing.”

Daniel grimaced. “Do you know how, when family stop by, they say “hey, can I ask you a favor,” and if its early enough in the morning you don’t stop to think first before you say yes?”

Jack’s eyebrows rose. “I would never be so careless. Do go on.”

“Well, my uncle is in town and he asked for a favor.”  
o0o  
“Danny boy!” The man was dressed in gold tights, red puffy shorts, and a gold tunic that matched Daniel’s. His dark hair was cut short and a trim beard framed his face. One giant red feather draped off of his cap and dangled down to his shoulder. It whacked Daniel in the mouth as the other man beamed and wrapped Daniel in a bear-hug that threatened to crack ribs. 

“Uncle Frank.” Daniel’s tone was one of mixed exasperation and fondness. The same tone Jack usually reserved for the archaeologist. He gestured to his companions. “Frank, these are some friends from work. Jack and Teal’c.”

“Jack, your supervisor who is now a general?” Frank asked with eyes narrowed on the other man.

Drat! Jack couldn’t seem to shake the stars even when he wasn’t wearing them. “Yes. Daniel seems to have told you a lot about me. He never mentioned you.”

“Of course he hasn’t!” Frank didn’t seem bothered in the least. He clapped hand on Jack’s shoulder and cleaned closer conspiratorially. “It’s on account of Bubba, you know.” He tapped the side of his forehead. 

“Bubba?” Jack asked.

“Frank!” Daniel’s tone was exasperated, as if he had hoped this wouldn’t come up. “I thought you didn’t talk about Bubba outside the family.”

“I thought you said you considered your teammates family,” Frank replied. 

“Who is Bubba?” Jack asked again.

“My friend. Daniel is embarassed because no one else has a friend other people can’t see or hear.”

Jack’s mouth hung open for a second, and he glanced at Daniel, who just shrugged. “You have an invisible friend?”

“No! That would be crazy. Bubba isn’t invisible, it’s just that one one can see him because he lives inside my head.” Frank beamed, as if this made perfect sense. 

Jack was still trying to figure out how he’d missed the fact that Daniel had a family. Jack knew about Nic, Daniel’s grandfather. He knew Daniel’s parents had died when he was a child. He hadn’t thought to ask about anyone else. 

Teal’c’s eyes narrowed. “Inside your head?”

“Aye.” Frank cast a sideways glance at the Jaffa. Jack had insisted that the staff remain back at base, so Teal’c was wearing the robes he donned for a visit to Chulak. There was a turban around his head to hide the golden symbol of Apophis. Surrounded by the wooden building, colored tents, and brightly-dressed staff of the Renn Faire, he didn’t look a bit out of place. 

“Yes, he has a friend who isn’t real,” Daniel said, as if he’d been through this before. “No, it’s never been a real problem. Frank is--”

“Eccentric,” Frank put in. “Well, time to earn your tickets.” Frank produced a cardboard sign that proclaimed in bold, blocky letters, “Bubba the Magnificent.” Then he pressed a tambourine in to Jack’s hands and handed a drum to Daniel. “Show starts in fifteen minutes here.” Frank pointed to a spot on the map. “Go round ‘em up! The richer the better.”

“Why would the audience need to be rich?” Teal’c asked.

“You’re the one from Africa, aren’t you? Well, at the end of the show I pass the hat.” Frank swept his cap off of his head. “And people fill it with money.”

“I see.” Teal’c took his sign and said solemnly, “We will bring an audience to fill your cap.”

Frank smiled and placed his hand on his nephew’s shoulder. “Danny, he’s perfect. I’ve never seen anyone pick up on the lingo so fast.”

Daniel led them out of the staff area to the Renn Faire grounds. Then he hoisted the sign above his head and called out, “Hear ye! Hear ye! Bubba the Magnificent shall perform in ten minutes time upon the Green Stage!”

A few people glanced in their direction. “I think you need to be a little louder,” Jack suggested. He had a pretty good idea that Daniel would not be able to muster much of a crowd. He was good a long-winded speeches about important moral issues, but he wasn’t so good at getting people excited about following him.

“Hear ye!” Teal’c bellowed, and Jack clamped a hand over his hear. “Hear ye! Bubba the Magnificent shall perform death-defying feats of magic in ten minutes time! Come to the Green Stage!” Teal’c fixed his eyes on a couple exiting a pewter shop. “Come! Follow me!” His gaze landed on a pair of women stuffing turkey legs into their mouths. 

One by one, the crowd gathered up their things and formed up behind the Jaffa. 

“The tambourine!” Daniel hissed. Jack obligingly raised the instrument and began to rattle it while Daniel banged on his drum. 

Of all the things Jack had done in his time with SG-1, he’d never been a minstrel in a costumed parade. And he had thought that his days as general meant all of the more interesting missions were behind him. 

Fifteen minutes later, Jack was sitting in a patch of shade slurping on a free slushee. Teal’c had a stick piled high with cotton candy, which he touched cautiously. As if not entirely sure it was real. “There is very strange food here, O’Neill. Food that I have not seen elsewhere on your planet.”

“Wait until you taste a funnel cake!” Jack bit into his turkey leg. 

The crowd had started to work up a chant. “Bubba! Bubba!” Some were comparing notes on past performances they had seen. Apparently, Frank Ballard was well-known on the Renn Faire circuit.

A hush fell over the crowd as Frank stepped onto the stage. He filled the little wooden podium with his presence, sharp eyes darting over the crowd and bringing dead-silence with the simple gesture of a finger pressed to his lips. “Lords and ladies, gentle children come near! I will tell you a tale made over thousands of years. Our hero lived in days of old, walked the earth for centuries untold. A tale of friendship this will be, a tale of a battle to make men free. True love will be found, won, and lost. Time the price and death the cost. Our hero still lives, among you unseen. It is for his friendship this song I sing.”

Frank picked up a lute that had been placed in the center of the stage and began to strum a simple background melody as his tale unfolded. In the background, Daniel walked across the stage, unwinding a banner the color of desert sand.

“Our story begins a long time ago when gods still walked the earth, and the heart of civilization was centered on the Nile.”

Jack felt a prickling on the back of his neck. Weren’t Renn Faire stories supposed to be about the middle ages, or pirates, or Robin Hood? The lute’s tone turned ominous, and Daniel began to beat out a steady rhythm on his drum. 

“These were the days when men believe in gods without question, but none had seen one. The gods lived in their starry abode far beyond the reach of man, until the day a pyramid descended into Egypt’s sands and the gods walked among men.”

Frank placed his hands on the lute’s strings to stop all sound and the drumbeat halted. “The gods performed great feats of magic!” He held his hand in front of his mouth and blew a tongue of fire toward the spellbound audience. “They knew of marvels no man could begin to understand!” The drumbeat began again, a sharp, urgent beat. “Each had the strength of ten men!” Frank reached out and lifted a rock that sat to one side of the stage. Then he did a flip to land on a wire suspended ten feet above the ground.

“The gods could go anywhere! They could travel halfway around the world in the blink of an eye! They could call soldiers out of a magic lake with one word! None could match their power, and so all men worshiped them.” Frank flipped backwards off the tightrope and landed on the stage accompanied by the crack of a firework that shot straight into the sky and burst, sparkling, over the audience.

“But the gods were cruel, and all people suffered under their rule.”

Bum-bum-bum! Daniel slapped the drum three times to great effect. 

“The people cried out against the evil gods.” Frank flung his hands toward the audience, who let out a long BOOO!

“They cried out because they had too much work!”

“BOOO!”

“They cried out because they did not have enough food.”

“BOOO!”

“But all who opposed the gods were thrown into the magic lake, and never heard from again. No one could stand against them. So the people cried out for a hero!” 

Now Frank raised his hands into the air and the crowd cried, “Huzzah!”

“A hero with the strength of then men!”

“HUZZAH!”

“A hero with the knowledge of the gods!”

“HUZZAH!”

“A hero handsome, brave, and strong who could put an end to the gods’ evil magic!” Frank flung one arm into the air and a sword appeared there, glittering in the sunlight. “But who could wield the sword that can kill a god? What man would have the strength? What man would care to help?”

The crowd lapsed into silence again. Children scooted to the edge of their seats. Jack found himself leaning forward as the drum grew quieter, and then was silent.

Franks hand plucked at the strings of the lute again. The music was soft, gentle, melancholy. “There was one god who saw that humans were more than animals to be put to work in the fields. Ageria the gentle, foe of Ra.”

The drum stuttered as Daniel paused to stare at his uncle at the sound of the familiar, alien name. He looked like he wanted ‘rewind and replay’ button, but Frank moved forward with the story, never missing a beat. 

“Ageria became friends with and young woman, even sharing one body so that the goddess lived inside this woman and gave her great strength. But the woman also had a lover, and when she bore a son, Khufu. Ageria blessed the child with her wisdom and her strength. Khufu was born of the gods but he was human. He heard the cry of his people, and he wept at their plight.”

Daniel picked up a rainstick and turned it over, and Frank hung his head for a moment of hushed, mournful silence.

“The boy Khufu did not know what to do. There was only one of him, and the gods were now many. The gods filled the earth and the people dared not defy them. Khufu left his home to find warriors who would rally behind him, but all he found was fear. Until he came upon the great cedar forest.” Frank spread his arms wide and smiled, his voice growing deeper. “Where he met me.” 

“Bubba!!” The cry rose up from the crowd, those who had heard the story before already knew where this was going. 

Jack frowned. Something about this story felt familiar. Gods in Egypt. A magic lake. A human rebellion.

“Harsesis.”

Jack turned to Teal’c. “What?”

“He is telling the story of Khufu the first Harsesis. It was Khufu who led the rebellion that defeated Ra and banished the Goa’ould from earth,” Teal’c said. “It is forbidden to speak of such things, but the free Jaffa have begun telling the story again.”

“I thought haresis were illegal. Ra killed them all.”

“Yes, after the first one defeated him in battle, Ra forbade the creation of another.”

Jack stared at the man on stage, at his floppy feather and puffy pants. It was all too ridiculously human to have anything to do with the Stargate project. “No. There are tons of stories about gods having kids. Just ask Daniel. It’s probably just a coincidence.” Jack paused. “A really, really weird coincidence.”

“Bubba stood guard in the cedar forest of Uruk day and night!” Frank held the sword in front of him, point-down, and Daniel beat the drum again. “He wanted nothing to do with humans, and nothing to do with the gods. He wanted to live in peace away from them all! When travelers dared enter the forest, Bubba bid them to stand and fight!”

Frank pointed to a boy in the front row. “Will you dare challenge Bubba, guardian of the forest?” The boy shook his head, eyes wide. Frank moved on to a girl in blue fairy wings. “Will you give challenge?” She jumped out of her seat, and the crowd gave a cheer. 

Frank led the girl to one side of the stage and placed a crossbow in her hand loaded with nerf darts. “You dare challenge me?” Frank pulled open his shirt to reveal a bright red target painted across his chest. “Fire!” The girl fired an arrow, and Frank turned a somersault in the air to dodge. “Again!” he cartwheeled out of the way. “Again!” Frank did a back-flip out of the path of the arrow. 

“None could touch Bubba!” He sent the girl back to her seat to an enthusiastic applause. 

“When Khufu arrived, he brought with him not a bow, not a sword, not an ax!” Frank peeled off his tunic to reveal the inside was a patchwork checkerboard. “He challenged Bubba to a game of wits!” Frank spread the tunic across the stage and circled it with an exaggerated frown. “For three days and three nights they played! None could beat the other. None would concede. And finally Bubba saw that here was a man who could equal the gods! But.” Frank picked up the lute again and smiled. “Here was also a man who could be his friend.”

“Is there a ‘Bubba’ in that harsesis story of yours?” Jack asked in a whisper.

“Humbaba,” Teal’c replied. “Khufu’s companion was named Humbaba.”

“Huh.” Jack pulled out his phone. “I need to check on something.” He squinted at the dial pad and pecked out a text message. 

>Carter. Look up Frank Ballard. Daniel’s uncle. ASAP<

Daniel now had a pair of coconuts in his hands, and he made clopping noises as Frank carried on. “Humbaba and Khufu rode out together! They rode to the land between the two rivers, and defeated the evil Marduk!”

“HUZZAH!” Somehow, the crowd knew their cue.

“They rode to the coastlands and did battle with Zeus!”

“HUZZAH!”

“They rode to the north and did battle with the giants. They rode to the south and did battle with Vishnu!”

“HUZZAH!”

“Hundreds of years after leaving his people, Khufu returned at the head of a might army to defeat the king of the gods, Ra. He tore the magic gauntlet from Ra’s hand! He threw Ra’s armies into the magic lake! He dried it up so none could use its power again! And the people had peace.” Frank smiled. “They made Khufu their king, and he ruled over them in a great golden age. And when his wife bore a son, he learned that the benevolent goddess’ gift was imprinted in his blood. His son had the power of the gods and all of the memories of his father. And so it went, generation after generation.”

Jack’s phone buzzed. >Frank Drall. Born 1905. Daniel’s great-uncle. Nic’s older brother. A recent picture shows he hasn’t aged. What’s going on, sir?<

>Get here. Now.< Jack was pretty sure he didn’t need to say any more than that. Carter could find his cell phone, so she could find him.

“Eventually the people forgot what had happened. They had peace, and the Khufu’s great-great-great grandson was no longer needed. He left Egypt and traveled the world with Bubba. We roamed together through the years. Anytime the people cried for help. Anytime a hero was needed, we took up pur swords to fight for justice.”

Daniel picked up the rainstick again, and the lute’s music became melancholy. “But memories fade with time. Bubba would live forever, but the sons of Khufu began to forget. They cannot reclaim the memory, so I tell their story today. Honor the victorious dead who fought for your freedom. Honor the heroes across the ages. Honor Khufu, who freed us all from the evil of the gods!”

Frank’s eyes danced and he stopped the music. “And if you ever see a magic lake. Don’t jump in.”

A small hand shot up out of the audience. A ten-year-old in the second row asked, “How do you know if a lake is magic?”

Frank leaned forward and said with wink, “It’ll be standing on its side.”

Teal’c turned to Jack, one eyebrow raised. ”Does he speak of the Chapa’ai?”


	2. Chapter 2

“You think my uncle is an alien?” Daniel stared at Jack, then at Teal’c. The Jaffa of course was stone-faced, but Jack also lacked his usual levity that gave away when he was cracking a joke. “Look, Jack, I know that this Rennaisance Faire stuff isn’t for everybody, but--”

“It has nothing to do with the weird clothes, Daniel. Did you even hear that story your uncle was telling?”

They had left Frank’s stage behind, Jack insisting that he wanted a guided tour of the rest of the Faire before they had to round up an audience for the next show. Frank had waved them away without a hint of suspicion, and now Jack had Daniel pinned to a wall behind the port-a-potties. It was the only place they wouldn’t be overheard.

Daniel blinked. “What about the story? Frank has told me a variation of that story whenever we visited. It’s completely ridiculous historically. Humbaba, the name “Bubba” is short for, was from Gilgamesh. In some versions he borrows characters from the Ramayana, and they all end up defeating Ra of Egypt. Those cultures and characters are hundreds of years apart! I looked it all up when I was a teenager.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, well. I wanted to prove to my cousin that Frank wasn’t as crazy as everyone said,” Daniel said. He had spent an entire year in study hall trying to make the story work out somehow in the historical record. “It didn’t work.” 

“People thought your grandfather was crazy,” Jack pointed out. “You thought your grandfather was crazy!”

Daniel frowned. “That’s different. Nic saw something that he didn’t understand, and it changed him. Frank has always told everyone that he has an invisible friend named “Bubba.”

“Not invisible,” Teal’c said.

Daniel blinked. “What?”

“Frank Ballard did not state that Bubba is invisible. He stated that Bubba lives inside his head,” Teal’c replied. “The goa’uld live inside the host’s head.”

“You think my uncle is a goa’uld?” Daniel worked his way through the words slowly. They didn’t make sense. They didn’t have any place here, they didn’t apply to his family. “Because he told a story about mythology?”

“Come on, Daniel! You heard that story. He basically said that aliens built the pyramids. He named Ageria.”

Daniel pursed his lips. He had noticed, actually. “Names like that aren’t unique, Jack. Seth was a goa’uld, and it is a perfectly common American name.”

He hadn’t seen Frank for years, they had had a rocky relationship ever since the argument over Daniel’s paper. Frank had told him not to publish it. Had even tried to steal his research and, when caught, blamed the whole thing on Bubba.

Frank was worried Daniel would be fired and claimed that Bubba said the whole theory was dangerous. They hadn’t spoke for a few years, and the space between them had only recently begun to thaw. It was part of why Daniel was here, in a jingly hat and tights, to begin with. As a sort of apology to Frank about the whole ordeal. 

“Daniel?” Jack had spotted the look. “What is it?”

Daniel sighed. “To tell you the truth, Frank’s story was what got me started on the research that got the air force’s attention in the first place. The pieces don’t fit together historically, but it got me wondering about the origins of the pyramids and gave me a few ideas about places to check for heiroglyphs that hadn’t been looked at before.”

Now it was Jack’s turn to give Daniel a look. “Uh-huh.”

“That doesn’t mean that he’s an alien, Jack! The story is still ridiculous. The timelines--”

“Does the timeline make more sense if you account for a goa’ould lifespan and the fact that the harsesis passed his memories on to his kids?” Some days, Jack could be so frustrating. His logic was impeccable, even if he didn’t have the data to back things up. 

“Yeah. Actually, that could.” Daniel shook his head. “But Frank is my uncle! I’ve known him my entire life. He’s always been a bit odd, but that doesn’t mean he’s not human. My whole family are historians and researchers. Maybe he heard the story from a relative or came across is in an old text.”

“How old is Nic these days, anyway?”

“Huh?” Daniel blinked, trying to keep up with the change in subject. 

“Nic. Your grandfather. Did you say he and Frank are brothers?”

“Yeah, but Frank is younger than Nic. A lot younger,” Daniel said.

Jack shook his head and handed over his phone. “Not according to the records Carter found. According to Social Security, Frank was born ten years before Nic. In 1915.”

Daniel shook his head. “No, no it was the other way around.”

“Either way, that man isn’t seventy.”

“He just keeps in good shape and dyes his hair,” Daniel said. “The acrobats around here, they all stay in shape. There’s one who is nearly ninety who can still do his full trapeze show.”

“Yeah, but nobody mistakes him for a forty-year-old either, do they?” Jack asked.

“Forty?” Daniel’s brow furrowed. “I guess I never really thought about it. I mean, it’s Frank. He’s a nice guy. A good guy. He’s never hurt anyone.”

“Ok, So maybe he’s not a Goa’ould. But something fishy is going on here,” Jack said. “And we’re not leaving until we get to the bottom of it.”

“Alright!” Daniel held up his hands in surrender. “Just—let me talk to him first.” 

 

o0o

Daniel stood under the shade of the performers tent and watched his uncle move about, sorting through costumes and props to prepare for his next show.

Born in 1915. The words echoed in his head. That would make him 90 right now. Older than Nick.

How did I miss this? Frank had always been exactly as he was now. Dark hair unmarred by grey. Not a wrinkle in sight. Gotta keep in shape to stay on stage! That was his only response when someone commented that he hadn't changed. 

Not that anyone commented very often. It simply wasn't something you bothered to notice most of the time. Daniel pulled out his wallet and looked at the picture of SG1, taken right before their first mission. They had all changed in small ways that he never noticed until he looked back at this photo.

Why notice a lack of change?

"Frank, you know I grew up hearing that story, but you've never told me where you heard it."

Frank glanced at his nephew. "Of course I have! I got it from Bubba."

"Bubba. Right." Daniel paused to stop himself from automatically discarding the idea. How many times had Frank said that, and everyone just rolled their eyes and ignored him? "Can you tell me more about Bubba?"

Frank paused his activities and turned to favor Daniel with a calculating look. "You've never asked about Bubba before, Danny."

"I know. Maybe I should have. How did you meet Bubba, Frank?"

"Well,” Frank scratched the back of his neck. “I don't really remember that so well. My father introduced us when I was very small."

"How small?"

"Eight. I was eight. I know that because it was my birthday.” Frank smiled at the memory. “That's the first birthday party I remember. We had a nice cake, and the next day I went to school for the first time."

"For the first time?" Even in the early 1900s, Frank should have been in school well before that. His family weren't farmers, they were scholars. They would have sent Frank to school.

"Well, I was sick, you see.” Frank’s brow furrowed. “Not sick, I guess that's the wrong word. I was born different. They call it Autism these days. I couldn't talk, couldn’t even shake my head yes or no. There was no school for me. If my father couldn't afford a nurse, I would have grown up in a hospital." Frank smiled. "But all that changed when I met Bubba! He helped me, let me be like all the other boys and girls."

"Bubba cured your Autism?" Jack's theory was sounding more and more likely. They hadn't met a disease the goa’uld couldn't fix. No. Autism isn't a disease. It's a neurological condition.

Could a goa’ould rewire a brain?

You can't see Bubba because he lives entirely inside my head.

Daniel felt his insides grow cold at the thought of a symbiote inside his uncle. Not all goa'ould were evil. This one had helped. Had healed a child. It was a reasonable exchange, one the Tok’ra made all the time.

"He didn't. He couldn't change me, but he works around it. Does the things for me that my own mind can't," Frank said. "If he left me, I would be just like I was before. But that's ok, because Bubba and I get along great."

"Yeah." Daniel acknowledged reflexively. He was suddenly struck by a series of memories that he had to interpret in a new light. "You do, don't you? What would Bubba look like if I could see him?”

Frank pondered for a moment, and shrugged. “Honestly, I have no idea.” He frowned, sighed, and his voice deepened. “A snake, Daniel. I am an alien that looks like a snake. Is that what you want to hear?”

“You’re a goa’ould.” Daniel had heard the voice shift a thousand times and never thought anything of it. It wasn’t the deep voice the goa’ould used, just a slight variation in tone and accent. Nothing dramatic, yet obvious if one was paying attention.

Why had nobody every paid attention?

“Gah!” Frank—or was it Bubba?--made a face. “I don’t like that word. My compatriots called themselves the tok’ra, but as that means ‘we fight against Ra!’ and I haven’t been in a fight for years, I’m not sure the term is accurate.”

“A tok’ra.” Daniel said slowly, digesting the words. “A tok’ra stranded on Earth...”

“Stranded? Hardly.” Frank snorted. “Bubba chose to stay. And I’m glad he did! So. You finally believe me.” Frank's tone deepened, turning more serious. "So, does that mean you’re finally going to tell me what you and the air force are up to in that mountain?"


End file.
